The Worms Crawl In
by Maddy78
Summary: Response to the Weekly Unbound Challenge: 1,000 words or less, first and last lines provided


Title: The Worms Crawl In  
  
Disclaimer: None of the characters from CSI are mine. They belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Alliance-Atlantis, CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, et al. No copyright infringement intended. No profit will be made from this story.  
  
A/N: Thanks to my terrific beta, Psyched and also Shannon for convincing me to take the challenge.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Do meal worms ever just snack?" Brass asked Sara. She shook her head no.  
  
"No, not in the sense that humans do, why?" She bent down to look at the corpse, careful to avoid the cat food dish. "Brass, these aren't meal worms, they're maggots."  
  
"Same difference. You're starting to sound like Grissom, you know that?" Brass asked. Sara ignored his remark, beginning her appraisal of the body. "So, what's going on with the bandages?" Maggots had spread from underneath the bandages secured to the victim's abdomen.  
  
"Could be medicinal maggots," Sara observed, opening her kit and removing a glass jar.  
  
"Medicinal?" Brass repeated. "Aren't we a little beyond using maggots and leeches on open wounds?" He watched as Sara carefully collected several maggots from the corpse before reaching into her kit and pulling out a Christopher Columbus to better examine the specimens.  
  
"Actually, maggots eat dead tissue only. In the Civil War and World War I, physicians on the battlefield noted that wounds that were infested with maggots healed better than those without. The maggots only eat rotting flesh and they clean out harmful bacteria in doing so," Sara casually lectured. "Hospitals use lab-grown, microorganism-free maggots." She paused, frowning. "Which these are not."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"These aren't medicinal maggots. They look like screw worm pupae." Sara looked warily at the bandage, which appeared to be moving. Brass shifted uneasily as she looked at him. "Nobody should be in here without taking more precautions. We need to suit up." Groaning, Brass pulled out his radio and called it in.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"How many of those things were in there?"  
  
"More than there should be," Sara replied as she pulled on a pair of blue coveralls. "Hey, Grissom," she greeted her supervisor. "Suit up and join the fun."  
  
"Nick, take the perimeter," Grissom instructed the younger man. Nick nodded, looking at Sara warily.  
  
"Uh, should I be suiting up? I mean, don't those things try to get inside of you and suck the nutrients out of everything you eat?"  
  
"Those are tapeworms, Nick, and they're very difficult to for humans to acquire without ingesting them." He paused. "Don't eat anything at the scene and you'll be fine." Brass snickered as Nick pouted.  
  
"Good thing you're here," Sara remarked. "Suit up. You'll like this. Vic has an abdominal wound, bandaged over top of the maggots."  
  
"Medicinal purposes?" Grissom asked. "Hospitals use them," he stopped, interrupted by Brass's laugh. "Something funny, Jim?"  
  
"Sara just gave me the same speech." Grissom looked at Sara curiously, clearly intrigued by this bit of information.  
  
"As I was saying, the maggots are not medicinal, which is why it's good that you're here. They look like Chrysomia bezziana." Grissom frowned.  
  
"Chrysomia bezziana? Don't you mean Cochliomyia hominivorax?" Grissom asked. Brass watched as Sara shook her head no.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he interrupted.  
  
"Chrysomia bezziana is the Old World screw worm. Cochliomyia hominivorax is the New World screw worm. The Old World screw worm exists primarily south of the equator. The New World screw worm used to be in the United States, but are now found only occasionally in the southernmost states because we implemented a sterile insect release technique that kept the Chrysomia bezziana from reproducing," Grissom lectured.  
  
"What's the bottom line?" Brass asked.  
  
"Our body is potentially the victim of a premeditated murder," Sara replied. "Ready to head in?"  
  
Grissom waved his arm. "Ladies first." Brass grinned as he watched Sara give Grissom a bright smile.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Your victim is Brian Perry," Dr. Robbins informed them. "He had surgery at Desert Palms nine days ago. He was given medicinal maggots to help with healing."  
  
"Those are not medicinal maggots," Grissom stated with certainty.  
  
"Obviously. They've infested his abdominal cavity." Dr. Robbins folded back the white sheet covering the body. "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out," he remarked.  
  
"Cause of death?" Sara asked.  
  
"Infection." Dr. Robbins folded back the white sheet covering the body. "The worms were eating live tissue and spreading bacteria inside the abdominal cavity. Temperature was approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of death, signs of dehydration." He looked at the two criminalists. "I've got a present for you, Gil."  
  
Dr. Robbins retrieved a small specimen jar with a small insect in it. "I'm guessing this is the mother. Found it during the post and I knew you'd want it."  
  
"Thanks," Grissom replied, holding the jar up to examine it. "Good job, Sara," he complimented her with a smile. "This is a female Chrysomia bezziana."  
  
"Now we just need to find out how she got under Mr. Perry's skin."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Why do I have to be the one to fetch the corpse of a cat?" Nick whined as he climbed up the ladder. "There's a bee hive up here!" he shrieked.  
  
"It's a wasp nest, Nick. Don't disturb it," Grissom warned.  
  
"Uh, isn't this more of a job for an entomologist?"  
  
"Wasps were not responsible for Mr. Perry's death," Grissom replied. "If you leave the wasps alone, they won't bother you. Just collect the cat. Someone put those maggots on Mr. Perry when he was at the hospital. They've had time to mature. We need to confirm whether the cat also died of injuries relating to a Chrysomia bezziana infestation." He frowned, watching as Nick climbed onto the roof, his heavy footsteps beginning to agitate the wasps. "Carefully."  
  
"I know, I know," Nick muttered. "I'm not some green cadet, Grissom," he called down. Nick failed to pay attention to where he was going as he addressed his supervisor.  
  
"Watch out for the nest!" Twisting, Nick lost his footing and fell, landing dangerously close to the nest. His impact jarred the nest, causing more wasps to emerge, beginning to swarm near him.  
  
Nick scrambled to his feet, practically running for the ladder. He jumped on it, waiting a moment for it to steady. "I think they're angry!"  
  
"Duck and cover!" Nick called from his perch on the wobbly ladder.  
  
Fin 


End file.
